|
|
Back to gerritt.net SPICY NEWS December 29, 2004. 10:06 PM I just finished installing a new spice rack in my kitchen, and now I have "Scarborough Fair" stuck in my head. (Popularized in 1966 by Simon and Garfunkel, though the lyrics date back to the middle ages.) Sadly, Monday's tsunami has now claimed the lives of over 80,000 people, and still climbing. Predictions say disease and famine could claim twice that number now that so many people are without food, water, and shelter. Have you heard what your United States Government is doing to help? No? Well, for one, we've already sent our entire "emergency relief fund" of the United States Agency for International Development, which controls a meager $35 million for such relief. (In comparison, the second largest donor thus far is Britain, at $29 mil.) What else? We're sending seven ships from nearby US Navy bases to produce fresh water (each ship can work their desalinization plants to purify 90,000 gallons of water per day!) Also from the military side, the Marine Corps Expeditionary Force has been sent to the area. Our president has initiated a coalition to lead aid efforts in the effected region, combining the US with Australia, Japan, and India. So far we don't seem too insensitive, so let's hope we start moving this money, sending help, and saving lives. This is important. I'll be in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl for the next few days! GO HOKIES, and Happy New Year!! -G * Email Gerritt EARTHQUANO! HURRIQUAKE!! TYNAMI!! December 27, 2004. 10:06 PM A tragic natural disaster this morning as a huge tsunami stole 22,000 lives from south Asia and parts of Africa. Created by a giant 9.0 earthquake (one of the largest ever) in the Indian Ocean, the wave energy rippled quickly across the ocean and struck without warning in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and southern India. NOAA has created this animation of the quake causing the waves, commonly referred to as a tidal wave, although tides have nothing to do with this type of wave. Tsunamis can cross the entire Pacific Ocean in less than a day due to their large wavelength and speed, but can pass under a ship without being noticed since they are so long and not steep. When they approach shallow water, they increase drastically in height as the energy is pushed into a smaller volume of water. The result is devastating, and if ever a tsunami were to strike either US coast without warning, the death toll would compare with today's numbers in Asia. Christmas time pictures from DC: 
 
-G * Email Gerritt HAVE A CAPITOL CHRISTMAS December 23, 2004. 11:46 PM  More images from DC:
-G * Email Gerritt "OH NO, WE'RE A MAN-VAN SANDWICH!!" December 21, 2004. 10:26 PM The above quote is credited to Tom, who, unaccustomed to city driving, was a bit uncomfortable in our driving predicament on the way to dinner this evening. I met up with Rob and Melissa and Ben and Tom tonight for another trip to the young and attractive Clarendon neighborhood of Arlington, VA (where you can smoke in restaurants!). This time we ended up at the Clarendon Grill, smartly decorated with weird trashcans mounted on the walls and local artwork in the corners. This week has greatly contrasted my week of night shifts preceeding it, having already spent both evenings with old friends and plans to do the same the next two nights. Last night Alex stopped by on leave from the Navy, and spent a great evening catching up. Thursday night I'm headed to explore another famous spot in the District: The Old Ebbitt grill, frequented by pols and DC bigwigs since the 1850s. -G * Email Gerritt WRITERS BLOC December 19, 2004. 9:55 PM Normally I don't take five days between entries, but you know how it is, holidays and whatnot. Of course I'm done with my Christmas shopping by now, and it seems for me this is the year of the candle. I'm a pathetically bad shopper, especially since the only place I know around here to buy gifts is the mall, and it takes forever to find anything there. Actually, there are at least four malls of equal convenience to me, but they're all pretty much the same, and just as expensive. I'll probably never go back until this time next year. Tonight Maryland saw its first snow of the year, a wet, sticky dusting followed by a sudden frigid drop of temperature. Driving from Severna Park I saw rain, wet snow, sleet, snow, and wind. By the time I made it to Columbia, there were cars spun out all over the highways, in the ditches, down embankments. Everyone seemed to have their own idea about how to safely to drive in it, typical Marylanders, and most of them were just clueless. Please do not drive with your hazard lights flashing when it snows. It does nothing except make other drivers nervous, and unless the visibility is really low, there's absolutely no need for it. We know its snowing. We know you're driving slowly. It's okay. We are too. -G * Email Gerritt THINGS THAT INSPIRE ME December 14, 2004. 11:55 PM Christmas. Learning French. This crazy kid playing the drums. Sugar Bowl tickets, plane tickets, hotels. Working nights. Ocean's Twelve. Live Lane Stadium demolition cam. Techmo Superbowl. Latkas. The Princess Bride. New Years sans Dick Clark. The ICC. Six strings and five fingers. The Can't-afforda-tortilla. Pay raises. -G * Email Gerritt QUESTION THE FUTURE December 11, 2004. 11:05 AM Halfway through a game of Trivial Pursuit: 90s Edition last night, I got to thinking about when all of these electronic fads and pop culture items will finally die. For example, at what point will cell phones finally fizzle out as an primary means of communication for young people? At what age will people like me stop using Instant Messenger away messages every morning to tell all my "buddies" that I'm "at work all day"? How will we dispose of the millions of broken and out-of-date cell phones, computers, TVs, cameras, and other devices that need replacing every two years? Will I ever stop downloading music song by song and start buying entire albums instead? Will Starbucks ever stop making money and give up on the coffee shop business? Will there ever be a better way to get information than from the internet? When these vital pieces of modern society finally go away, what will replace them? And will it be any better? -G * Email Gerritt CRABBY PATTIES December 7, 2004. 9:57 PM A news flash today caught my eye: for the first time ever, scientists have developed a way to breed, hatch, and grow blue crabs in captivity, then release them to mate in the wild. This is quite a feat considering how delicate and complicated blue crab mating is, plus the fact that any animal raised in captivity is likely to suffer when released. Here's to hoping the crab population in the bay will rebuild itself into the glory it once was, before overfishing and pollution brought the blue crab in danger of extinction from the Chesapeake. And eventually perhaps the price will come down, and I won't feel so guilty about eating an endangered species. Well, it cost a bit more than I had hoped, but I am now definitely going to the Sugar Bowl in January! -G * Email Gerritt THIS NEW YEARS WILL BE SWEET December 5, 2004. 8:47 PM The Virginia Tech Hokies, coming off their best year since 1999, defeated a very good Miami team yesterday to win outright the Atlantic Coast Conference, secure themselves a place in the Sugar Bowl, and move up to number nine in the country. Not wanting to miss out on a good excuse to go to New Orleans, I've spent the last two days searching frantically for hotels (check), cheap airfare (not yet), and tickets to the game (not sure yet). As a recent graduate, the game means a lot to me, and I am excited to be a fan of Hokie football since we're headed to one of the best bowl games, second only to the national championship game. The team has shown confidence late in the season, and will have to bring their best game to New Orleans on January third, since they'll be facing an impressive and undefeated Auburn team coming off a win in the South Eastern Conference championship game. Most of all, I'm looking forward to going back to New Orleans, this time with all the die-hard Hokie fans with me. -G * Email Gerritt WHAT WOULD YOU DO? December 3, 2004. 5:57 PM Say you live in an apartment complex which does not have a Dumpster (or any brand of waste disposal unit). Your apartment instead has trashcans in each building which can handle garbage no bigger than what fits into a normal trash bag, and a recycle bin for glass, aluminum, and plastic. The catch is that you have a few large things to throw away, plus a ton of paper that you'd like to recycle, however, the trash room in your building has warning signs on it saying that you'll be charged a fine for throwing away "bulk items", and the recycle bin is kindly labeled "NO PAPER!!" In this situation do you A) try to fit your bulk items and your paper into the trash bin anyway, B) go to a nearby school or shopping center in the middle of the night and throw the bulk stuff into their Dumpster and the paper into their recycling bin, C) try to find the time to go to the dump, or D) don't throw anything away until you accumulate so much junk that you can't see your TV from your couch, then move it all to your car, then sell your car. So what would you do? Also, with a win tomorrow against Miami, Virginia Tech would go on to play in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan 3, having won outright their first ACC title in their first year as an ACC team. -G * Email Gerritt |